It's guessing time!
Guess: How many times does the word 'pastor' appear in the Bible?
(Picture of a pastor below - while you formulate your guess)
Answer: 1 time. (NIV) From Ephesians 4:11
I was certainly surprised to find that out.
Now guess: How many times do the following words appear in the Bible?:
'apostle', 'prophet', 'evangelist', 'teacher'
Answer: 89, 470, 3, 137 (NIV) in order.
Next question:
Why is it that the Church today places so much emphasis on having the pastor as the leader in the Church?
Why is it not emphasized instead that we have a balance of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers as leaders in the Church?
"And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues." - 1 Cor 12:28
If the order of the appointment of leadership in the Church starts with apostles, then prophets, then teachers, etc... have we, as today's Church, adopted 'what we do' out of tradition, rather than the values from the Word of God?
*the pastor is probably the mentioned 'those able to help others' and 'those with gifts of administration', and 'workers of miracles'.
